Campaign update: Georgian mountain communities consider restoring long abandoned tradition to tackle threats to their land
June 29, 2016
With hydropower and mining projects encroaching on their lands and livelihoods, Svan communities in Georgia’s northwest consider convening in an ancestral assembly to discuss their course of action.
New damage to hydropower project a bleak reminder of development bank missteps in Georgia
June 27, 2016
On June 23 mudflows from the Devdoraki glacier again hit the Dariali gorge and washed away a road and infrastructure connected to two hydropower projects planned in the north of Georgia. The destruction included the water intake for the 19 megawatt Larsi hydropower plant and the derivation pipes for the Dariali hydropower plant.
Eight activists arrested in Nenskra power plant protests
May 26, 2016
Tbilisi, DFWatch – Svan campaigners declare that their protests will continue as long as no alternatives to the current project assuming flooding of their native valley are presented. Police special forces arrested eight activists protesting against the construction of Nenskra Hydropower Plant and released them after imposing financial penalties.
Eight arrested in protest against Georgian dam
May 24, 2016
Protests against large dams in Georgia’s Svaneti mountains have led to confrontations with police. Locals are losing patience over the protracted consultation process on the project.
Georgia swept by protests against EBRD-backed hydropower
May 11, 2016
Protests have in recent weeks broken out across rural Georgia after construction resumed on several large hydropower projects financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Demonstrators have complained that the projects were repeatedly decided behind closed doors, and that poor assessments of the social and environmental consequences mean their livelihoods are under threat.
Briefing: Nenskra hydropower plant, Georgia
April 29, 2016
This briefing was prepared and presented during the annual meetings of the Asian Development Bank on 2 May 2016 in Frankfurt.
Briefing on Nenskra hydropower plant for the Asian Development Bank
April 28, 2016
New agreement for Georgian Khudoni dam signals expropriations and tariff hike
March 31, 2016
After hitting a snag, the Khudoni dam in Georgia’s mountains is back in the game threatening to expropriate private lands and to bump up electricity prices for Georgian consumers. The controversial changes in an amended contract have inflamed the passion of the Svans who have for years tried to protect their communities from flooding.
Tensions are rising over hydropower and the lack of participation in Georgia’s mountains
March 15, 2016
The mistrust and frustration of communities in the mountains of north-western Georgia is deepening over make-shift consultations on large dam constructions.
Declaration of local community in Kaishi to cancel contract for Georgian Khudoni dam
March 9, 2016
In this declaration, the community of Khaishi, a village in the mountains in north west Georgia, called for a the cancellation of the contract for the construction of the 700MW Khudoni dam. Khaishi residents demand the recognition of customary land rights and the inclusion of Svans into the decision-making over the project.
